Outdoor farmers market opens Saturday

May 9, 2013

A woman shops for flowers at the Burlington Farmers Market last year. The market grew from 60 vendors in 2011 to about 90 vendors last year. This year there will be 85 vendors, say organizers. / Free Press file

Written by

Mike Verillo

Free Press Staff Writer

The Burlington Summer Farmers Market

When: 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturdays, May 11 to Oct. 26 Where: City Hall Park, Burlington For a complete list of vendors and more information, visit burlingtonfarmersmarket.org

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Spring is here, and the Burlington Farmers Market will be returning to City Hall Park on Saturday.

Despite the Burlington Parks and Recreation Department’s concern for the park’s turf last year, the market will be about the same size, and its future is looking bright.

“Last year, we grew a lot,” Spencer Welton, president of the Burlington Farmers Market steering committee and co-owner of Half Pint Farm, said. “The local movement has gained momentum, so there’s greater interest on the customer side, and … on the vendor side.”

In 2011, the summer market had about 60 vendors, and it grew to about 90 last year, he said. This season, the market will feature 85 vendors.

This growth caused some concern last year. City Hall Park’s grass was already worn due to regular use and poor drainage, and the market traffic added to the damage, Jesse Bridges, director of the Parks and Recreation Department said.

“Last year was a good size, and we’re going to stay there for a while,” Welton said. Last year, the steering committee and Parks and Recreation planned and worked together to hedge sod damage while preserving the market’s size and traffic, he said.

There will be some new vendors this year.

Twenty vendors were on a waiting list last year, and 12 of them have been granted a provisional membership, Chris Wagner, manager of the farmers market, said.

A few vendors chose to take the year off, including River Berry Farm, Black Creek Preserves, and Orsini’s BBQ, Welton said.

The market’s festivities will also be returning.

“We will still have music and face painting,” Wagner said. “We want to do some cooking demonstrations. It depends on logistics,” he said.

The market will be in the same place as last year, but will try to be more conscientious of its wear on the park’s turf following the Parks and Recreation’s concern.

“There was a time where we thought the market would be asked to move out of the park entirely,” Welton said.

“There’s a little bit of a different configuration,” he said. The market will set up on St. Paul Street and in City Hall Park, as it did last year. Vendors will also line a sidewalk across the park, moving from a few sidewalks they used last year, he said.

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The vendors are rotating areas of use yearly to reduce turf ware, and to allow Parks and Recreation to sod and plant seed in damaged areas, Bridges said.

Relations between the market and Parks and Recreation Department have improved since Bridges was appointed to director of the department by Mayor Miro Weinberger, Wagner said. “With Miro, there’s a breath of fresh air,” he said.

“When I got the job, I reached out to them,” Bridges said. “The farmers market is our partner,” he said.

The market’s growing pains have been addressed, and it’s looking forward.

The Imagine City Hall Park project, which will be designed by Burlington City Arts, aims to redesign the park by improving walkways, lighting and drainage, and creating dedicated space for events like the farmers market, Bridges said.

This event area would use hardscape, a non-turf surface like gravel, to reduce damage to and maintenance of the park, he said. Parks and Recreation has included the market in the discussion of the project, he said.

“It’s becoming more of a festival,” Wagner said. “Our relationship with local business, our relationship with City Hall, has really changed for the good,” he said.